Presenter's Details

Associate Professor Angela Scollary

Associate Professor Angela Scollary was the foundation head of the Information Systems Department at the former Western Institute - now Victoria University of Technology - up till March of this year when she resigned to undertake a research project on curriculum trends in IT.

She is the Victorian organiser of the Women in Technology group of the Australian Computer Society(ACS-WIT), and a member of the Females in Technology and Telecommunications (FITT) group as well as the Women in Computing (WIC) network. She has been involved in a number of projects to raise the awareness of girls to the opportunities available in courses and careers in IT, as well as to encourage them to remain on course and to find rewarding positions on course completion. She provides a phone assistance facility for the ACS Victorian branch for people enquiring as to training opportunities in IT - particularly mature age people seeking a career change.

Points for discussion in Chat 7

• Where are the best resources to assist with internet searches?
• Who can help women's organisations get onto the net?
• Who can help to maintain your internet site?
• Useful books and self help guides
• Useful contacts
• How to overcome women's fears of using the technology
• Is this the sort of stuff that would be useful? 
• Am I covering the same ground as others? 
• Can I modify this as the week progresses? 

Contact Details

Associate Professor Angela Scollary,
Department of Information Systems, Faculty of Business
Victoria University of Technology,
PO Box 14428,
Melbourne City,
MC8001, AUSTRALIA.
phone +61 3 9365 2272
fax +61 3 9365 2592
mobile 0413 455 968
Email angela.scollary@vu.edu.au

Judi Cooper

Email judic@netspace.net.au

Ms. Judi Cooper, Director, MC Media & Associates, has over 20 years experience in broadcasting as a journalist/producer (radio and TV) and a senior manager for the ABC as well as an independent producer.  MC Media & Associates’ core business is: 

• Media and communication strategies for the public and private sectors
• Design and implementation of communications and media training

MC Media & Associates manages The Network Exchange of Women’s Services (NEWS) project managed for the Commonwealth Office of the Status of Women which seeks to inform women’s NGOs around Australia through the production of the NEWS Newsletter  (distribution 650 organisations) and the website www.womensnews.net.au MC Media also manages the Pacific Media Initiative for AusAID which involves the design and implementation of 18 media training activities a year in up to 14 Pacific Island countries.  Ms. Cooper was the foundation CEO of the Victorian Co-operative Multimedia Centre (CMC) and during this period worked with government departments, broadcast organisations, universities and multimedia developers. Prior to this, she was the Business Manager, Manager Pacific Broadcasts and Head of the 24 hour English Language Service for the ABC’s Radio Australia.  Ms. Cooper has conducted media training in the Asia/Pacific region and played a leading role introducing the idea of multimedia production to the ABC, particularly in Melbourne, and developed strategic alliances within the multimedia industry, educational institutions and government.  She established and wrote the design parameters for Radio Australia's first World Wide Web site and on-line services established the basis for multilingual on-line services and supervised its production and implementation.  Ms. Cooper is currently Chair of the RMIT University Faculty of Art, Design and Communication’s Multimedia Advisory Curriculum Committee,  a member of the Multimedia Advisory Council of RMIT and the Swinburne University of Technology Curriculum Advisory Committee for their multimedia courses at Lilydale.

Dr Elizabeth Shannon

Dr Elizabeth Shannon is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Public Management and Policy, University of Tasmania. She was awarded her PhD in 1997 for her thesis entitled 'The Influence of Feminism on Public Policy: Equal Pay and Abortion in Australia and Ireland'. She has had a long interest in information technology, feminism, and public policy. Her activities in this area include founding the Australian Political Studies Association Women's Caucus Electronic Newsletter 'WAPSAnews' and acting as editor in 1994-1995; setting up AUSFEM-POLNET and acting as list
administrator in 1996-1999; running the Tasmanian Women's Policy Workshop in 1998; and sitting on the Tasmanian Government Women's Information Technology Taskforce in 1998-1999. 

Dr Shannon is the list administrator for the Australian Feminist Policy Network (AUSFEM-POLNET). This list was established in February 1996. It currently connects over 650 individuals and institutions around Australia and the world. The main questions people have asked in the past are listed below. Have a look at the AUSFEM-POLNET website for information on these topics. 

Conceptualities

• Why an Australian Feminist Policy Network?
• Who is the Australian Feminist Policy Network?

Practicalities

• How did the Australian Feminist Policy Network get started?
• What is the role of the list administrator?

Technicalities

• What is a majordomo list?
• Does joining a list require any special training, hardware or software?

Contact Details

Centre for Public Management and Policy, 
University of Tasmania, 
GPO Box 252-95, 
Hobart, Tasmania, 
7001 AUSTRALIA. 
Tel: 03 6226 2384 
Fax: 03 6226 1872
Email: E.Shannon@utas.edu.au

Elizabeth Shannon's web address is: http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/cpmp/ES.html

Papers from the Tasmanian Women's Policy Workshop are online at: http://www.utas.edu.au/docs/humsoc/cpmp/ES7.html

Juliette Meade

Email: julietto@interact.net.au

I am a primary teacher and live in Canberra, A.C.T. I am also a Guide Leader with Guides Australia. I’m 27 years old. I have been online now for about 3 years. I started out knowing how to turn on a computer and knowing nothing about the Internet. In the last three years I have learnt to make web pages, become a prolific emailer and a champion for the possibilities that the Internet has for young women as one of the cheapest and quickest forms of communication, as a source of information and the fun you can have.

I am the Information Technology coordinator at my school and make web pages for the school. I teach my students how to use the Internet and how to make the most from their computers and the software that is available to them. I teach people how to use Email and most of all how to ask questions.

I am a member of the Guides Australia Webteam and assist a team of women around the country in maintaining the web pages that provide information and fun to the Guiding community in Australia and overseas. The Webteam has never met in person and all of the contact we have is via the Internet.  

Presentation topics: 

• Getting started… how do I learn what everyone seems to know already? 
• Using IRC (Internet Relay Chat)
• communication tool, save money, meet people
• Web page design (keep it simple stupid)
• how to make a plan, what to make it in, where to host it
• Being online with Guides Australia (we don’t just sell cookies) 
• Getting other young women involved in the Internet and its possibilities
• email lists 
• Getting the most fun out of being online. Some great sites to explore.
• women’s health, knowledge info – south pole, wavs, bored.com, weather, research, virtual gifts, things you just wouldn’t find anywhere but the Internet
• My view on how women fit into the whole field of Information Technology
• Don’t be intimidated, grab it and have a go – there’s a lot of ppl out there who bluff their way through IT and really want your help
• Don’t be afraid to let people know what you know.

Associate Professor Leonie Daws

Leonie is a Director of the Centre for Policy and Leadership Studies, Faculty of education, QUT. She has lectured in the fields of curriculum studies, and educational policy over the past 24 years in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales. Leonie has conducted research projects in the areas of women in management, gender issues in curriculum policy and practice, and rural women's use of communication technologies and information access. Leonie grew up on properties in rural NSW and Victoria and is particularly interested in enhancing rural women's leadership roles.

Ms Lyn Simpson

Lyn is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Communication, Faculty of Business, QUT. She holds a Master of Education degree, a Bachelor of Education and a Diploma of Teaching. Her background is in secondary education, TAFE and university lecturing. Lyn taught and lectured in business education, teacher education and communication technology for 20 years before moving to the administrative role of Acting Head, School of  Communication for most of 1993-1997. Lyn had conducted research and consulting projects in the area of social and policy implications of  emerging communication technologies, women and business, and mentoring for women's career development. She is particularly interested in enhancing  women's use of communication technologies by demystifying the technology and in understanding how communication technologies can contribute to rural  and community development. She is currently undertaking a PhD in this area.

Ms Leanne Wood

Email lm.wood@qut.edu.au

Leanne is a Senior Research Assistant in the Communication Centre, QUT. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and Diploma in Education from the University of Queensland, and her early career was in secondary education. She has worked in various research roles for nearly ten year. Leanne's research interests are in the areas of women's small business and electronic networking, and she is currently undertaking a PhD in this area.

Susan Meyer 

Email smc@nsw.bigpond.net.au

Professional:

• Been in the computer industry for 20 years. 
• Has own business, Susan Meyer Consulting
• Expertise is in planning and management - works as a consultant to other companies, big and small, to assist them in the planning of their IT strategies, and the running of their IT departments.
• Achievements include:
• Two and a half years as General Manager of  Information Systems for Vodafone, the mobile phone company.
• Restructure and set-up of IT divisions in the Telecommunications industry.
• Delivery of critical systems to organisations within the private sector and government.

Objectives:

• Particularly interested in demystifying IT. 
• Works within organisations to unite business and IT people so that they work together as a single team. 
• Believes that ‘IT’ or ‘The Computer Industry’ is one of the most misunderstood professions - rather than find it full of computer nerds, she thinks it’s exciting, fun, very sociable and that the industry has a greater variety of roles and opportunities than almost any other.

Personal:

• Passionate about social justice - ideally all people should be given the opportunity to develop themselves as they wish.
• Loves movies, theatre, bush-walking and reading.

Professional Affiliations include:

• Steering committee member of  Females in Technology and Telecommunications (FITT).
• Project Co-ordinator of FITT mentoring program to support girls and women already in IT or those wishing to enter IT.
• Member of IT Think Tank, to examine why more girls are not taking up careers in computing.

Kathy Bail

Email kbail@acp.com.au

Before joining The Bulletin as deputy editor in May this year, Kathy Bail was the editor of HQ magazine. From 1993 to 1997, she edited the Australian edition of Rolling Stone.

She is also the editor of the book DIY Feminism, a collection of stories and commentary by Australian women.

In Canberra in 1998 she gave the Pamela Denoon Lecture -- Log on or drop out: Women in a wired world.

Larry Stillman

Larry Stillman is Diversity Officer at Vicnet, the community-focussed internet service of the State Library of Victoria (www. with responsibilities in the areas of access to the internet for people of non-English Speaking Backgrounds and people with disabilities.

Larry has worked in community relations, community development, and information services for the past decade. He has also worked on projects dealing with migration and settlement issues for the Administrative Review Council, the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria, and the Victorian Association of Community Information Centres.

Dot points for discussion

• Which NESB women are we speaking of? Are we working off stereotypes? Young women? Older women?
• Numerous reports over a number of years have demonstrated the importance of face to face communication for new arrivals, particularly women. Priorities are about family, schools, health, jobs. At that early stage of settlement, does the internet have a role?
• Cost - the internet isn't very cheap.
• Literacy issues. Many migrants, new and old, have literacy problems, both in 'home' and English. Can we expect them to use the internet as a personal tool of communication?
• Notwithstanding the above problems, email in particular, probably offers enormous potential to many people who want to keep in touch with 'home. And in the case of the refugee Kosovars, the internet was a vital link to the rest of the world.
• As for employment in the burgeoning technological and knowledge economies, what are opportunities for NESB women? Is the danger for many women one of becoming an exploited outworker and underpaid data processor, a victim of a digital divide with a few high fliers at the top?
• Technical issues: publishing in some languages on the web is still difficult, and we can't expect quick solutions for all communities. I hope that Vicnet will be able to lead the way with the next stage of its Open Road project (www.openroad.vic.gov.au), and partnerships with key migrant information agencies.

Ann Prunty

Email  aprunty@farmwide.com.au

Anne Prunty began working with Farmwide three and a half years ago at the commencement of the Farmwide Online Services Project. She had not used online services at all and has learned along with the pilot participants, often, as she puts it, being less than one step ahead!

Paper

As Office Manager for two Farmwide projects involving the provision of online services for rural and regional Australia I am particularly conscious of the barriers to rural and regional people accessing online services. These include:

• Poor telephone lines and exchanges.
• High costs - no local call access for many therefore the only way to obtain local call access involves high hourly rates.
• Difficulty accessing training because of distance and lack of facilities.

Having said this I can see the benefits once these barriers have been overcome include:

• Improved communication both on a local and worldwide level. 
• Time saving - e-commerce, shopping.
• Improved access to information.

Since working on these projects I have learned that online services are vital to rural and regional Australians. There is nothing magical about online services but the perception of the rural and regional people with whom I communicate on a daily basis is that online services have now become an integral part of their business practice and are a necessary business tool.

Chris Chapel

Chris Capel is a Senior Project Officer who teleworks from her home base “Evesham” 100 km north west of Longreach, Central Western Queensland, for the Brisbane based Office of Rural Communities. She is also a partner in her family’s sheep and cattle grazing business.  She and her husband David have 3 children - Jessica (14)  Duncan (11) and Miles(3).

She is chair of the Queensland Rural Women's Network BridgIT (rural Internet training) project steering committee. She is  an Associate Director and  a member of the advisory committee for the TeleTask project. She was an active participant in the former Queensland University of Technology rural women's telecommunications research project. She was awarded the Western/Carpentaria region Rural Woman of the year award in 1997. 

Discussion Starter

Regional  Women's Advisor Council

The role of women in the decision-making process will be strengthened by the Regional Women's Advisory Council, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Regional Services, John Anderson, said today in announcing its membership.

The Council's nine members, comprising women with expertise on key issues facing regional and rural Australia, will report directly to Mr Anderson. The Council will play a lead role in improving interaction between the Government and women in country Australia.

The Council will assist in facilitating community leadership, business development, education and greater community cohesion.

"The Government values the diverse range of knowledge, experience and perspectives that women living in regional, rural and remote Australia offer to policy development," Mr Anderson said.

"It is particularly important that in a time of momentous change and challenge for country communities, women's  contributions are heard by the Government."

Representatives from each state and the Northern Territory include:

Ms Cathy McGowan (chair)
Mrs Jenny Hawkins 
Mrs Janice Richardson
Mrs Elaine McKeon 
Miss Jenny Russell
Ms Sue Middleton 
Ms Elspeth Radford
Ms Moira O'Brien 
Mrs Margaret Smith AO

"I am pleased to be appointed to this important position which allows for a new approach to regional and rural community and economic development," Ms McGowan said.

The Council, which will be supported by the Regional and Rural Women's Unit within the Department of Transport and Regional Services, will convene its first meeting with Mr Anderson later this month.

Media Contacts:

Paul Chamberlin, 
Minister's Office: (02) 6277 7680 / (0419) 233 989

Astrida Upitis, 
Director Regional and Rural Women's Unit:  (02) 6274 6294 / (0409) 714 457

BACKGROUND OF WOMEN SELECTED FOR THE REGIONAL WOMEN'S ADVISORY COUNCIL

Cathy McGowan the Council's inaugural chair, offers extensive experience in the areas of social and community research. She has expertise in gender issues and in delivery of support services in rural areas, including health. Ms McGowan has been at the forefront of initiatives in community change and leadership. She has represented Australia at a number of international conferences advocating on behalf of regional and rural women. She has worked in several capacities for both the state and Federal governments and has experience in Land care and community environmental action. She is currently President of the Australian Women in Agriculture.

Jennifer Hawkins from Finley, New South Wales is currently self-employed both as a partner in a family farming enterprise and operator of her own catering business employing five to ten people. A member of a number of community and agricultural organisations, Mrs Hawkins is Chair of the Standing Committee to establish Health Committee Network 8 with Greater Murray Health and is Regional Chair of the NSW Farmers Region Nine.

Elaine McKeon from Cloncurry in Queensland offers indigenous perspectives as well as her experience in a  range of community projects, advocacy work on women's issues, prevention of domestic violence, health care and community development. In addition, Mrs McKeon has been successful in facilitating the delivery of family support services on a permanent basis in Cloncurry. She also offers significant "hands on" experience in dealing with social and community issues ranging from substance abuse to work with the Royal Flying Doctor Service. Mrs McKeon is currently CEO of Koutha Aboriginal Development Corporation, which was established to create employment  and business opportunities for Aboriginal communities in North West Queensland.

Sue Middleton is currently working in Western Australia as the State Coordinator of the Community Builders initiative, which helps communities develop sustainable community and economic development programs. Ms Middleton has extensive experience in facilitation of groups and brings with her a successful background in rural and regional community and economic development, having worked with a number of diverse shires and small communities across Queensland and Western Australia. She chairs a telecentre in York, Western Australia and is working to establish a holistic fitness centre in her community.

Moira O'Brien lives on her family's beef cattle station in the Northern Territory and is a successful businesswoman. A former NT Young Achiever of the Year,  Ms O'Brien was an inaugural member of both the Chief Minister's Round Table of Young Territorians (1997-1998)  and Secretary of the Top End Branch of the Northern Territory Cattleman's Association (1996). In addition,  Ms O'Brien has been Deputy Chair of the National Farmers Federation National Rural Youth Forum steering committee, currently nominated for the 1999 NT  Individual Land care Award and was appointed to the Constitutional Convention.

Elspeth Radford is a registered nurse, small-business woman and partner in a merino sheep station in South Australia. Her highly successful Saltbush Clothing Company manufactures children's and adult clothing. Ms Radford is a current member of the South Australian Government Development Board for Wool, and is in regular demand as a guest speaker for a broad range of community organisations.

Janice Richardson is partner in a diversified farming  enterprise near Harford in Tasmania, which combines horticulture, forestry, and cattle and sheep production.  Mrs Richardson has held a range of positions in school, sporting and community organisations. She was a founding member and facilitator of the Rubicon Women in Agriculture Group, and a member of the Standing Committee on Agricultural Resource Management (SCARM) Forum held in Canberra in 1997, an Executive Member and Treasurer of Australian Women in Agriculture and Chairman of their Structure Committee. She was a member of the Tasmanian Rural Women's Advisory Group from 1997  to 1998.

Jenny Russell from Blackall in Queensland is a partner in the family owned and operated commercial cattle stud in Blackall, where she has responsibility for administration, marketing and promotion. Miss Russell has extensive experience in public relations and secondary school teaching. She was Director of the Queensland Industry Development Corporation and a member of the Queensland University of Technology Convocation Standing Committee.

Margaret Smith AO, is from the Riverina region of New South Wales, where she is a partner in a mixed farming and grazing enterprise. Currently President of the Country Women's Association of Australia, Mrs Smith has  been a member of that organisation since 1968 and has occupied a number of executive positions since 1989. She is a member of the National Rural Health Alliance, National Advisory Committee on Youth Suicide Prevention, Australia Post Postal Services Consultative Committee and the NSW Committee on Aging. In addition, Mrs Smith is on the Rural Women's Advisory Group to the NSW  Department of Agriculture. Mrs Smith was awarded an AO in 1999 for services to women in rural and remote areas.

Judy Harrison

Email nwjc@nwjc.org.au

Judy Harrison is the Project Director for the National Women's Justice Coalition's Australian Virtual Centre for Women and the Law  http://www.nwjc.org.au/avcwl  An annotated bibliography on Women and New Communication's Technologies prepared in support of the AVCWL project is at http://www.fl.asn.au/lf.old/stuff/womenbib.html   Judy also facilitates Pamela's List which is an email list for Australian national non-government women's organisations and regional and state women's organisations not represented nationally. There are over 60 organisations on the list at http://www.nwjc.org.au/pamelaslist.htm  

Email nwjc@nwjc.org.au

The Hon John Anderson MP, Member for Gwydir (NSW)

Parliamentary Service

Elected to the House of Representatives for Gwydir, New South Wales, at by-election 15.4.89, vice the Hon. R.J.D. Hunt (resigned). Re-elected 1990, 1993 and 1996.  

Ministerial Appointments

Minister for Primary Industries and Energy from 11.3.96 to 21.10.98.
Minister for Transport and Regional Development from 25.9.97 to 9.10.97.
Minister for Transport and Regional Services from 21.10.98.  

Committee Service

House of Representatives Standing: Legal and Constitutional Affairs from 16.8.89 to 19.2.90; Aboriginal Affairs from 16.5.90 to 4.5.92; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs from 4.5.92 to 8.2.93; Employment, Education and Training from 16.5.90 to 6.5.92; Transport, Communications and Infrastructure from 16.5.90 to 8.2.93.

Joint: Australian Capital Territory from 1.6.89 to 19.2.90.  

Conferences, Delegations and Visits

Official visits to Taiwan, September 1996; Italy, France and Belgium, November 1996; USA, July 1997; Japan, July-August 1997.
Parliamentary Delegate to the Australian Constitutional Convention, Canberra, February 1998. 

Parliamentary Party Positions

Deputy Leader of the Federal Parliamentary National Party of Australia from 23.3.93.

Member, Opposition Shadow Ministry from 28.4.92 to 11.3.96. Parliamentary Secretary to the Chair of the Manpower and Labour Market Reform Group from 28.4.92 to 7.4.93; Shadow Minister for Primary Industry from 7.4.93 to 11.3.96.  

Party Positions

Chair, National Party Tambar Springs Branch 1984-89.
Chair, Gwydir Federal Electorate Council 1986-89.
Member, Central Council, National Party of Australia (NSW) from 1986.
Member, Central Executive, National Party of Australia (NSW) from 1987.  

Personal

Born 14.11.56 at Sydney, NSW.
Married.

Qualifications and Occupation before entering Federal Parliament

MA (Syd).
Farmer and grazier.  

Electorate

Description: Rural.
Location: Northern New South Wales; it includes the towns of Collarenebri, Coonabarabran, Coonamble, Dunedoo, Gilgandra, Gunnedah, Lightning Ridge, Moree, Mudgee, Narrabri, Walgett and Wellington.

Area: 114 463 sq. km (approx.).

Electors enrolled: 72 185 (at 3.10.98).

Industries: Wool, beef, pork, wheat, cotton, oil seed crops, lucerne, fruit, vegetables, dairy cattle, horse, sheep and cattle studs, timber, coal and opal mining.

State electorates: Gwydir includes parts of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly electorates of Barwon, Broken Hill, Dubbo, Orange, Tamworth and Upper Hunter.  

Kara Ward

Shopping:

Find out how an online auction works, and bid for a bargain.  Visit a virtual supermarket and fill your trolley with goodies from department stores around the globe, or simply pick up your veggies for the week.  

• Find out how an online auction works, and bid for a bargain.
• Visit a virtual supermarket and fill your trolley with goodies from department stores around the globe, or simply pick up your veggies for the week.
• Check out how to do your Christmas shopping without battling the crowds
• Where to pick up a dinner for two, or a taxi for him.
• Find out how to shop safely - protect yourself and your valuable credit information.
• Get the great Australian dream without leaving your couch - buy a car, a home, and a holiday to get over the ordeal.
• Doing your homework on the Internet - how to use the Net to research your purchase.
• Bargains, freebies, and cheapies...where they lurk online.
• How to buy Australian - what's available locally on the Internet

The Hon. Judith Mary Troeth, Senator for Victoria

Parliamentary Service

Elected to the Senate for Victoria, 1993 (term began 1.7.93) and 1998.

Ministerial Appointments

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy from 9.10.97 to 21.10.98.

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry from 21.10.98.  

Committee Service

Senate Standing: Scrutiny of Bills from 17.8.93 (Chair from 12.10.94) to 29.4.96.

Senate Legislative and General Purpose Standing: Community Affairs from 1.7.93 to 10.10.94; Full member, Community Affairs: References Committee from 10.10.94 to 30.11.94; Rural and Regional Affairs from 21.10.93 to 7.12.93; Full member, Employment, Education and Training: Legislation Committee from 10.10.94 to 21.10.97 and References Committee from 30.11.94 to 21.10.97; Participating member, Community Affairs: Legislation Committee from 11.10.94 to 29.4.96; Participating member, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: Legislation Committee from 11.10.94 to 29.4.96 and References Committee from 9.5.96 to 30.6.96; Full member, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade: References Committee from 1.7.96 to 21.10.97 and Legislation Committee from 1.7.96 (Chair from 1.7.96) to 10.11.97; Full member, Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport: References Committee from 17.10.94 to 29.4.96; Participating member, Economics: References Committee from 19.6.96 to 5.12.96.

Senate Select: Land Fund Bill from 30.11.94 to 9.2.95; Certain Land Fund Matters from 19.9.95 to 30.11.95; Community Standards Relevant to the Supply of Services Utilising Electronic Technologies from 22.5.96 to 26.6.97; Victorian Casino Inquiry from 15.10.96 to 5.12.96.

Senate Estimates: A from 19.8.93 to 9.2.94; E from 8.2.94 to 10.10.94.

Joint Statutory: National Crime Authority from 7.10.93 to 29.1.96.

Joint Standing: Migration from 31.5.96 to 10.11.97; Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade from 13.2.97 to 22.10.97.

Parliamentary Party Positions

Member, Opposition Shadow Ministry from 26.5.94 to 11.3.96. Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Minister for Employment, Training and Family Services from 26.5.94 to 11.3.96.

Party Positions

Liberal Party Branch President 1982-91.

Member, Liberal Party Policy Assembly and State Rural Committees 1985-92.

Member, Liberal Party Administrative Committee 1988-92.

Country Vice-President, Liberal Party 1989-92. Chair, State Strategy Committee (Vic) 1991-92.

Chair, Federal Liberal Regional and Rural Committee from August 1996.

Personal

Born 3.8.40 at Brighton, Vic.

Married.

Qualifications and Occupation before entering Federal Parliament

BA, DipEd (Melb).

Partner in family farm from 1965.

Teacher 1962-65 and 1980-87.  

Dale Spender

DIGITAL STYLE Pty Ltd
5121, 55 Baildon Street, Kangaroo Point, 4169, Australia
phone/fax 61 7 3891 9855: mobile 0408 703 882
Email d.spender@mailbox.uq.edu.au

Dale Spender, AM, (BA  DipEd  MA  LittB  PhD) is an educational  consultant and learning services provider, who specialises in the new  technologies and their professional implications.  She is an adjunct professor at the University of Queensland, and is recognised as a world leader in online education.

She has given expert advice to the Governments of Australia, and Queensland, Office of PM and Cabinet, Australian Government Superhighway Roundtable, Council of Europe, British Equal Opportunity Commission, and the Canadian Human Rights Commission; she has contributed to the management of cultural change in a global context, and to  learning and IT policy at state, national  and international level.

A director of the Copyright Agency, (CAL), a director of the Communications Institute of Australia, a member of the Queensland Communication and Information Advisory Board (and Chair of the Queensland  IT&T Skills Working Party), a member of the National Committee of the Australian Interactive Multimedia and Internet Association, (and Deputy Chair of the Australian Society of Authors), Dale Spender is aware of both industry needs, and the demands of universities and traditional educational institutions. She is also the co-convenor of ROIL (Resources for Online and Interactive Learning), which offers a leading edge series of industry/ professional seminars on learning and the new  technologies 

Through her company, Digital Style, she is intent on developing/ marketing a diverse range of Australian Learning Services in the online, global environment. 

She has lectured/ taught (and held appointments) in many universities in North America, United Kingdom, Europe and Australasia; these include MIT Media Lab, Cambridge University, and the UK Open University. She has designed and taught  professional development modules for academic staff which include  the University of Queensland (Demonstration: Teaching with the New Technologies); Queensland University of Technology (The changing role of the academic lecturer), University of Western Sydney (Learning Delivery in the Digital Age)  and Macquarie University,  (Resources and Teaching for an Information Age). 

She is the originator of an online interactive course package, TOPS (Teaching Online Professionals) which teaches teachers to teach online, and which includes modules on Virtual Classroom Management, Online Communication, Development of Online Content, Online Research and Resources, Organisational and Critical Skills Online, Assessment etc. 

She has been a consultant with AOL and with Andersen Contracting where she has contributed her specific expertise  on cultural change, content, and online educational and professional markets. Dale Spender has worked with CAEL (a US Learning Broker) which has brought together employers, unions and Learning Providers to promote the delivery of learning packages to the workforce – any pace, any time, anywhere. 

She has also worked as a consultant for the ABC on the development of digital content, the opportunities for learning delivery, and staff training for the digital age. She has prepared and presented educational programs for the UK Open University and the BBC, and has given advice on media convergence and educational broadcasting.

She has written for many newspapers, been a radio and TV commentator, and is widely respected for her teaching abilities, and research reports.

She is at the forefront of online- learning  expertise in Australia, and is engaged in developing a model for a skills/content audit of educational institutions, which will serve as a guide for educational management to plan for the shift to online delivery. Dale Spender is currently providing professional development courses for the 21st century, for university and school staff in US, UK and Australia.

Through a variety of means, Dale Spender is helping to establish professional content standards for learning services, and courseware delivery.

The current crisis in the Arts has also been the subject of her research and presentations. In October 1998, she launched TRACE, the UK Online Writing Community, and outlined strategies for the development of Digital Arts programs and other knowledge management courses. 

She is also currently advising a section of the South African Vice Chancellors on online delivery. And she is the chair of the Australian Society of Authors sub-committee, which  is transforming the professional association into an e-commerce brokerage to provide online global Australian content. She is assisting the Victorian College of the Arts in their transition to webified  organisation. 

She has done extensive research in the area of scholarly conventions and their appropriateness in the online environment, and has been the examiner of the first  web-based PhD in Australia.

Dale Spender has written widely, (she is the author/editor of more than thirty books, many of which have been university texts) and has researched and presented a great deal of material in the educational/ new  technology area. She has an international reputation as an outstanding public speaker, has given more than 400 international keynote addresses; she has been a guest of the National Press Club, and has done professional presentations for industry bodies.

She is the co-originator/editor of the International Data Base on Women (Routledge) and her most recent book, Playing IT Smart; Learning in the Digital Age, will be available in 1999. In 1997, she was voted one of the most creative minds in Australia by the Bulletin. 

Ann Moffat

Email annm@technologysolutions.com.au

Ann Moffatt has 40 years experience in the Information Technology Industry at all levels including Systems Development, Project Management, Company Management and Consultancy.

In January 1993, together with 100 other IT professionals, Ann established Technology Solutions (TS). The Vision of the enterprise is to deliver high quality IT services provided by professionals working on a flexible, part-time basis from a home base. 

TS is a classical ‘Virtual’ company. It is a loose collaboration of IT professionals who work together to produce high quality IT services for some of Australia’s top companies. Yet it has only one employee, the accountant, and no ‘physical’ office.

Ann is the Principal Executive Officer of Technology Solutions.

Ann pioneered Teleworking in the 1960s whilst working with what is now the FI Group in the UK. FI was established to provide work for women programmers during their child rearing years at a time when programming skills were scarce. Ann was Technical Director when she left to rejoin the conventional workforce. In the 8 years Ann was at FI she helped it grow from 11 to 400 home based workers. In 1997 FI had a revenue in excess of $A200 million.

Ann has followed the growth of Teleworking and is currently working towards a PhD in the subject. She has advised several Australian enterprises on the development of strategies to implement Home Based working successfully.

Ann’s career includes:-

Director of the Institute of Information Technology, University of New South Wales (1989-1992)

National Development Manager, Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) (1987-1989)

IT Executive, AMP Society (1975-1987) (Only woman executive at AMP 1975-1986)
http://www.technologysolutions.com.au

Email annm@technologysolutions.com.au

Dr Josie Arnold BA, DipEd, PhD, 

Dr Josie Arnold is a senior lecturer in media at Swinburne at Lilydale. She is an established Australian writer in film, poetry, education and fiction. Her current projects are in the theory and practice of multimedia scripting and development. She is, with Ms Kitty Vigo, a principal author and developer of the Oz 21 CD ROM based learning tool on Australia's cultural diversity and development. She is one of the leaders in the Masterclass program offered in association with the Office of Research and Graduate Studies at Swinburne University of Technology to assist in the development of writing skills for researchers and postgraduate research students. Dr Arnold's primary research interests are in the cultural impact and implications of telematics.

Ms Kitty Vigo BA (Melb), FCISR

Kitty Vigo is a former journalist now working as an academic who has had a long-term interest in the impact of telematics on social practices ranging from how people communicate, to how they represent themselves and learn. She has been involved in a range of projects which explore these issues including a government funded project which explored questions relating to teaching and training at Swinburne. She has also directed three learning enhancement projects funded by the Committee for the Advancement of University Teaching (CAUT); a UNESCO-funded project exploring the use of computer technologies for journalist training in the Pacific; and was a core member of the the East.link project team which created research and business-building links with businesses in Melbourne's Outer East. With Dr Arnold she developed a CD ROM for Swinburne at Lilydale. Ms Vigo was awarded the University’s award for teaching excellence in 1998 and has again been nominated for 1999. 

Dr Supriya Singh, Senior Research Fellow 

Email ssingh@circit.rmit.edu.au

Dr Supriya Singh is a Senior Research Fellow at CIRCIT at RMIT. She holds a PhD in Sociology and Anthropology from La Trobe University, Melbourne, a Masters in Political Science from Drew University, Madison, N.J. (USA) in urban studies, a Masters in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, and a Bachelors Honours degree in English Literature from the University of Delhi, India. 

Supriya's doctoral study was entitled Marriage, Money and Information: Australian Consumers' Use of Banks. She was awarded the Jean Martin Award by the Australian Sociological Association for the best Social Science thesis in Australia for 1993-95. The thesis was published by Allen and Unwin in 1997 as Marriage Money: The Social Shaping of Money in Marriage and Banking. It is currently being translated into Mandarin for a Taiwanese edition. 

Her previous books drew on her experience as an anthropologist in Borneo, Features Editor, New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur and Editor, Triple A (a banking magazine for Asia Pacific and part of the Business Review Weekly group), Melbourne. She wrote a personal account of eight months fieldwork among the Simunul Bajaus in Sabah, Malaysia, entitled On the Sulu Sea (Angsana Publications, 1984).

Her two books on banking history are entitled Bank Negara Malaysia: The First 25 Years, 1959-1984 (Bank Negara Malaysia: 1984) and The Bankers (Allen and Unwin: 1991). 

At CIRCIT, Supriya's work has concentrated on research from the users' perspective in the use of information and communication services, particularly for payments and e-commerce. She is researching the broad area of money, media and communication, focusing in particular on how Internet communication changes the nature of communication and money. Her publications in this area between 1996 and 1998 include The Use of Information and Communication Technologies in the Home (with Amanda Bow and Karen Wale); The Use of Electronic Money in the Home: Trust and Electronic Money (with Claudia Slegers); The Story of Small Business and Electronic Commerce (with Claudia Slegers); Electronic Commerce in the APEC Region and Connecting Customers and Providers: A Focus on Electronic Money. 

Supriya is also developing CIRCIT's Asia-Pacific research program, with particular emphasis on the cross-cultural linkages of money, gender and design. She initiated a monthly discussion group on Information and the Consumer Interest which since 1991 has brought together consumer representatives, academics and people in government and business. She has also developed CIRCIT's Symposium on the Information Process which attracts academics dealing with multidisciplinary research on information and communication services. 

Dr Singh was invited in 1996, 1997 and 1998 to present her research at the Telecommunications Policy Research Conference in Maryland, USA; at Princeton University's Department of Sociology Workshop on Economic Sociology; at the Center for International Affairs, Harvard University; the India International Centre and the University of Delhi, India; the ARIACO conference in Kuala Lumpur; the APEC Telecommunications Working Group at Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei and at the Pacific Telecommunications Conference, Hawaii.

Dr Singh has been a consultant for consumer groups on finance since 1989. She represented consumers on the Australian Payments System Council from 1993-1998. She has submitted on behalf of the consumer movement to the Martin Banking Inquiry in 1991 and the Prices Surveillance Authority Inquiry into Bank Fees and Charges (1995). She has also submitted on behalf of CIRCIT to the Financial System Inquiry (1996) and the Electronic Commerce Task Force (1996). She was also invited to participate in a consultative group with the Australian Taxation Office. Her consumer policy research includes Banking on the Margin (1989), Banks and Migrants: An Untapped Market (1992) and For Love not Money: Women, Information and the Family Business (1995). Supriya is also linked to business as a Counsellor for the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA). 

Internationally, she is a member of the Program Committee for the Pacific Telecommunications Conference '99 (USA), a member of the international advisory board of New Media and Society and a member of the founding committee for the international Association for Qualitative Research (AQR). Locally, she is the founding Secretary for the Sikh Welfare Council of Victoria. 

Discussion Starter

http://www.circit.rmit.edu.au

Dr Supriya Singh
Senior Research Fellow
CIRCIT at RMIT
GPO Box 2476V,
Melbourne 3001 Australia
Email ssingh@circit.rmit.edu.au  

Professor Joan Cooper

Email: joan_cooper@uow.edu.au

Professor Joan Cooper is the foundation Professor of Technology at the University of Wollongong, and the first female professor in IT in Australia. She is Head of the School of Information Technology and Computer Science, and has over twenty years' experience within the Information Technology field.  She is also coordinator of the Secure Electronic Commerce Research group. Her most recent work is in Electronic Commerce and Health Informatics. She has expertise in Electronic Commerce, IT privacy and security issues, the impact of the
Internet on society and the application of IT to the health sector. She was recently appointed to the NSW Privacy Advisory Committee, established as part of the NSW Government's Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998. She is one of the three founders of Australia's first inter-University Electronic Commerce research and consulting group CollECTeR (Collaborative Electronic Commerce Technology and Research).

April Pham

The Immigrant Women's Speakout Association is the NSW peak body representing the needs, issues and ideas of migrant and refugee women. Speakout provides policy, advocacy, community development, casework, information and referral services on a number of issues affecting NESB women, including employment and training and domestic violence.

Currently Speakout is also conducting an Older Women and Abuse project; an Internet Training project and a research project on NESB women's access to the private rental market.

The Domestic Violence Project at Speakout consists of three workers: a policy officer and two caseworkers. Issues that we are dealing with include;

• women accessing the Domestic Violence Provision within the Migration Regulations
• women without access to income support due to a lack of permanent residence status
• negative attitudes of police, magistrates and service providers towards NESB women experiencing domestic violence
• lack of access to the legal system due to many factors including legal aid cuts, lack of free interpreters for family law matters
• the appropriateness of and lack of access to interpreters
• the lack of recognition of communities ( and at times the legal system) of non-physical forms of domestic violence, and domestic violence as a crime
• the usage of culture to explain, stereotype and perpetuate myths about domestic violence
• lack of culturally appropriate service provision in terms of a lack of bilingual workers, and a lack of translated material
• a lack of services to address issues of abuse of older NESB women
• currently, the project is conducting a rural project

As a policy officer with the project, I am committed to women's issues and am actively involved in policy, advocacy and lobbying, and community development work to raise the awareness of the barriers confronting women from non-English speaking backgrounds experiencing domestic violence.I was until recently an NESB representative on WESNET, and am the vice president of the NSW Vietnamese Women's Association. I have been in the community sector for 7 years, working in youth, drug and alcohol, health, and the women's sector. My passion to improve women's position in society is derived from a perspective of being a woman from a refugee background, a perspective which definitely helps one to see the every day individual, structural and systemic inequalities that confront a migrant or refugee woman of a non-English speaking background.  

Jo Previte

Email j.previte@qut.eud.au

JO PREVITE is a researcher at the Communication Centre, Queensland University of Technology.  Since 1996 she has been involved with innovative research investigating how new communication and information technologies can best be used to enhance social and economic development in regional, rural and remote communities.  This year she graduated with a First Class Honours Degree from Griffith University.  Her research thesis presents empirical research, detailing Internet consumers’ attitudes to the rise of commercialisation on the Internet, specifically focusing on Internet Advertising.  Her other research interest include social marketing, social networks and the implications of using electronic networks to diffuse social issues in electronic environments; she is currently undertaking a PhD in this area.

Jo is also the list administrator for the rural women’s online discussion group Welink. Welink has been set up by a team of researchers at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, in collaboration a number of other government  and industry groups, and a wonderful bunch of women living in various rural and remote places across Queensland. The research project which aimed to enhance rural women's access to interactive communication technologies such as the Internet, including electronic mail and the World Wide Web. 

WELINK'S PURPOSE

Welink is intended to:

1. provide rural women with an electronic venue to explore the many ways in which communicating and networking electronically may be of interest to them.

2. establish links between rural women and urban women (and some men) with an interest in rural women and communication issues.

3. inform government and industry policy on issues affecting rural women and interactive communication technologies.

4. through these activities, to contribute to ensuring that the voices of rural women and their communities are heard, and that future policies will better address their needs.

HOW WOMEN PARTICIPATE?

This is your place to chat. Use it to:  

• meet other women with similar needs, interests or experiences;
• share information of all kinds;
• get ideas and advice from others with more experience, if you are new to this kind of electronic discussion;
• find out about recent developments affecting rural communities;
• just chat.

In fact, use welink in whatever ways are appropriate for your needs and interests.

WHO ARE YOU LIKELY TO MEET HERE?
As a legacy of its wechat origins, this list currently has a membership including women who live in rural and remote parts of Queensland and elsewhere in Australia who are engaged in a variety of occupations from 'domestic engineer' to grazier to community development officer. Other members work for government departments such as the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and the Commonwealth Department of Social Security.  Other members again are researchers with an ongoing interest in rural affairs all over the world including Canada, Hong Kong and Ireland as well as various parts of Australia. Members of the original research team maintain an ongoing interest in the list.

MANAGING YOUR MEMBERSHIP OF WELINK

Welink operates as a Mailing List.

You access welink by email and you get back email messages. A new message will be sent to you whenever someone writes to welink. Welink's email address is

welink@lists@c2o.org

To SUBSCRIBE: send an email message as follows:

To: welink@lists@c2o.org
From: your.name@your.service.provider (This will be inserted automatically)
Subject: (Leave this blank)

In the main body of the message write:

subscribe welink  

Glenda Carriere 

Glenda Carriere has worked on the production side in the film industry and in commercial television.  Her latest film  A Dozen Eggs screened on SBS in July 1999.  She has also worked as Publicity Officer for Queensland Arts Council and in various facets of the media and arts industries.

She is currently undertaking a PhD at Queensland University of Technology researching Australian women's groups' use of the new information and communication technologies.  She has completed a Master of Business (Media Studies) in 1995 with a thesis on Australian contemporary women filmmakers and also have a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education and BA.

She has been involved with Women in Film and Television (WIFT) at the state, national and international level over the last five years during that time fulfilling various executive positions including Director on the Board of WIFT International, President of WIFT Australia, and President of WIFT Queensland.

In 1995 she was appointed by the Qld Minister for Arts on the recommendation of the Head of Arts Queensland to the New Technologies Advisory Committee to Arts Queensland, serving on this Committee for two years until its disbandment.  During that time she assisted in the formulation of a multimedia policy for Arts Queensland and provided advice to the minister on a 'whole of government' approach to multimedia.  The work of the committee culminated in the establishment of the Digital Media Programme at Arts Queensland. 

Read Glenda Carriere's Discussion Starter

Dr David Miron 
School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences 
University of New England 
Armidale, New South Wales 2351 
AUSTRALIA 
Phone: +61 2 67 733149 
Fax: + 61 2 67 733312 

Sophia Platthy
Project Officer
Australian Virtual Centre for Women and the Law
National Women's Justice Coalition
GPO Box 3148 Canberra ACT 2601 
AUSTRALIA 
Phone: +61 2 6247 2075 
Fax: + 61 2 6257 3070 
virtualcentre@nwjc.org.au